Can't Anybody Here Play This Game? (A Continuing Series)

by Pejman Yousefzadeh on September 6, 2009

Ed Morrissey picks up on an obvious theme: Team Obama is putting on a mighty impressive impression of the Keystone Kops these days. I am, quite frankly, somewhat surprised by the degree to which things are falling apart for the White House’s political operations department; Team Obama certainly ran an impressive Presidential campaign, and it is filled with battle-hardened veterans of past political wars. Every White House goes through rough patches, and this one is no exception, so we ought not to think that the White House won’t eventually find its “A” game again. And given the media’s penchant for writing and filing comeback stories, it would not astonish me if, within the next few months, we are treated to media stories about how Team Obama regained its swerve.

But for now, the White House is clearly flailing after some disastrous political and personnel decisions. If nothing else, this ought to remind all of us–myself included–that however loud and insistent the claims that Barack Obama is some sort of political titan, the truth of the matter is that he is anything but. Not that Republicans ought to think that the fight against the Obama Administration is over and won; as the Shahnameh reminds us, “Do not make light of any enemy/No matter how unworthy he may be.”

(No, Barack Obama is not the “enemy.” He is a political opponent. The point is that one shouldn’t be overconfident in any kind of fight against any kind of foe.)